Described below is a method for detecting objects with a pivotable sensor device which includes a scan sensor and a corresponding device.
Nowadays odometric and gyroscopic measurements are frequently used to navigate driverless transport vehicles. In the case of these measurements, the position of the vehicle is determined using appropriate sensors on the vehicle. In particular, the difference in distance covered by the vehicle is detected using sensors on the wheel of the vehicle. However, the sensors used are subject to measurement uncertainties, which result in position errors during the operation of the vehicle. Because of these errors, it is not possible to navigate driverless transport vehicles using odometry and gyroskopy alone. It is therefore necessary to use methods to improve the estimation of the vehicle position.
Such methods for improving the position estimation use, for example, laser scanners. In a known method, objects in the floor area of the vehicle are detected in a two-dimensional scanning plane of the laser scanner. Hereby the scanning plane is essentially parallel to the floor so that only objects in the floor area can be used for navigating. This is disadvantageous when using driverless transport systems in a commercial environment, especially in warehouses. In particular there is the problem here that objects in warehouses often change their position, so that a driverless transport vehicle can no longer orient itself because objects are no longer present or new objects appear.
In addition to the two-dimensional navigation systems just described, arrangements are known where a laser system is used to make a three-dimensional measurement of the surroundings of the vehicle are known. Hereby the features of the surroundings are present in so-called 3D-point clouds, wherein to navigate, the point clouds are compared with previously determined point clouds, in order to determine the particular position of the vehicle. These methods are very complex.